A Verizon worker snapped and thumped a Queens customer
after the man asked for his ID. Repairman Robert Benjamin allegedly pummeled Aubrey
Isakson, 37, when the Sunnyside man balked at letting the tech inside of his
apartment.
According to the New York Post, which had a look at the
lawsuit filed in Queens Supreme Court, Benjamin shouted "You want to know
my name? Here's my name!" And pressing his ID card into Isakson's face. Isakson claimed that Benjamin hit him two or three times
in the head, bloodied his face and broke his glasses, then grabbed him around
the neck and pressed him up against a wall.
Isakson broke free, but fractured his ankle running down
the stairs as he got help. An off-duty cop neighbor grabbed Benjamin, and the techie
was arrested and charged with assault. The case is being fought in a civil court because
prosecutors offered to dismiss the case if the phone guy didn't get into any
trouble for six months.
A Verizon spokesman noted that Benjamin wasn't convicted
of any crime and had been a model employee since the incident.